"Thank you Akki, thank you for talking to me."one of my friend texted me last night. None of our friends talks to her nowadays cuz she is in a 'forbidden' relationship. And anyone who tried to take her out of that relationship she severed bond with them so I thought she is simply thanking me for being her only friend.
But today, after I got a call from her mom and saw my friend sitting on her sofa with bruised neck, I realized there are more words that she wanted to tell me.
Her eyes are red as tears rolling down from her cheeks. Her mom called me to comfort her, to knock some sence into her. I sat beside her trying to hide her from everyone from everything, trying to make her forget that she ever committed suicide, trying to convince myself that my friend tried to die by hanging herself.
She wailed out from my embrace crying out her boyfriend's name pulling me more closer to her.
I never saw anyone as strong willed as shabana, but here she is crying her eyes out and telling me how she is all alone. No one's by her side today just cuz her boyfriend is hindu and she is Muslim and all she wanted was to live a normal life with him.
She is digging her fingers into my back as she wailing "how could I live without him, Akansa. Tell me. I just loved him, why is it my fault?"
My eyes are blurry from my tears as I'm saying "everything will be okay. you just need to Live, to make everything okay." I don't know what to say or how to comfort her. I should've brought my mom here. I've never seen anyone so broke, I never knew love could break someone like this. Love is always a blessing for me love built me up when I was at my worst. But for shabana, love broke her shattering her into pieces.
Her dad suddenly shouted "go die if you want to. But don't even think about marring that vulgar hindu boy or I will hang you to death myself."
My friend whimpered " I love him, papa."
there was a flower vase near her father he was about to throw that but her mother begged him not to so he threw that to the floor as he said "you dare say you LOVE him, you should go to mosque and beg mercy from Allah for loving a Hindu."
Just cuz of this fu€king religion shit, I could've lost my friend and her parents could've lost their only girl. But for them losing their daughter doesn't matter as long as they doesn't lose their caste.
Is caste above love, above life?
Has Allah ever said that hindu and Muslim can't be in love? That two different caste could never blend in?


■ I'm deeply sorry if I offended anyone. I didn't meant to hurt anyone or make any offensive remarks.

© Night owl